Melting the Ice NovelShipping Oneshot
by Salaris
Summary: NovelShipping Oneshot with some PearlShipping thrown in. Also a small reference of HandyManShipping. Couldn't think of a title, sorry. XD Mild viloence, nothing above PG 13.  Several years in the PokeWorld Future. Misty comes to visit Ash, Dawn, and Brock


Hikari yawned, stretching out her arms. She pushed up the plush red comforter of the Pokemon Center bed, picked up her bag and shuffled to the bathroom. Piplup stirred and followed close behind her. "Piplu-pipluu!" It squawked. That was odd. Piplup usually loved to sleep in. "Something wrong, Piplup?"

It jumped up and down excitedly. "Pipluuu!"

Hikari laughed at the excited squeal, but still hadn't a clue what was going through that bird's mind. Then she heard a rustle from the bedroom. Hikari pulled down her skirt, straightened her tank top, and went out to see what was going on.

It was Takeshi. He was sorting through clothes of his. Wonder why, Hikari thought. "Hey, Takeshi, what are you doing?"

"Why, picking out clean clothes for—you forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?" Hikari was confused. Just then Satoshi walked in, bouncing on his toes.

"Takeshi, can you believe Kasumi really decided to come out and see us today?"

"Kasumi…Omigod!" Hikari gasped. She had totally forgotten! Today was the day Kasumi, Satoshi and Takeshi's old traveling friend, and the main leader of the Cerulean City Gym in Kanto, was coming out to see them while she was on her way back from a lecture tour around Sinnoh with Prof. Oak. "I'd better dress nice! After all, I'll finally have a _girl _around here to talk to!" Then she ran into the closet and started picking out cute dresses, or should she wear capris, but that'd look too casual—

"Uhh, Hikari, you might not be needing to dress up for Kasumi," Takeshi said in the nicest way possible.

Hikari cocked her head. "And why is that?"

Satoshi just laughed. "Because," he said, choking on his laughter, "Kasumi's like a total tomboy!"

Hikari stared at him, dazed. If that was the case, then…Kasumi mustn't like fashion, or cute Pokemon, or dresses, or skirts, or pink, or smiling…

Takeshi scolded Satoshi. "Oh come on, she's not a_ total_ tomboy_. _Kasumi's a real girly-girl deep down, Hikari. In fact, she wore dresses a lot for Pokemon Beauty Pageants. She also used to have an adorable Togepi, although then it evolved and had to leave…But none the less, Satoshi totally stereotyped her."

Satoshi interrupted. "But Takeshi, you gotta admit, she did have quite the feisty temper."

"Yeah, and so did Haruka at times. Same with you, Hikari. Don't let Satoshi scare you; Kasumi's a wonderful girl and a great friend. I'm sure she'll like you."

"Really? You think?"  
"Mm-hm." Takeshi nodded, and that gave Hikari all the comfort she needed. "Although, you might want to stick with more casual clothes."

Hikari nodded, taking every word in. "Casual…o-kay! Piplup, let's do this! And, by the way, Piplup, why are you quite this excited, again?"

Piplup splashed Hikari with a gurgle of water. "Pip-lup! Wait…Ohhh! Right! Kasumi's a water-type gym leader, isn't she? And you're a water-type! Piplup, you're gonna have so much fun!"

But secretly, behind Hikari's back, Takeshi gulped, pushing sweat drops off his forehead.

"Satoshiii! Takeshiii! Hikariii!" Kasumi squealed, hopping off her bike and running towards her two friends and their new traveling partner. She hugged the two boys, squeezing Hikari in the middle. "I missed you guys! You should really visit the gym sometime!"

Satoshi laughed, and Takeshi introduced Hikari. "Ahh, so this is the girl I've heard so much about." Kasumi extended her hand to the blue-haired, pretty-faced girl and shook her hand. "Wait, are you wearing a—"

"Lillycove Brand waterproof sundress with matching pale pink hoodie and icy blue sandals? Yes!"

Satoshi looked unbelieving. "Kasumi, you never knew anything about fashion. What's wrong with you?"

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "I may not know much about fashion, but I _do_ have to keep up on the latest water proof outfits for the gym! Idiot! Is Satoshi as clumsy as always?"

"I'm not clumsy!"

"I'd bet you're three times as clumsy as when we last met, unless Hikari and Haruka have shaped you since then."

"Grr, Kasumi—!"

"What, are you embarrassed to have your flaws pointed out right in front of your girlfriend or something?" Kasumi lifted her right eyebrow.

"Sh-she's not my girlfriend!" Satoshi stuttered, but he and Hikari were both beet red. There had to be_ something_ going on there. "Anyway, I'd bet you and Kenji have a fun time nowadays."

Kasumi scoffed. "Didn't Kenji tell you? He and Sakura have been going out for_ weeks_!"

Satoshi's jab had backfired, and he resorted to just blushing with the occasional growl. Man, why was he getting so worked up at something stupid like this anyway? People had accused Haruka and him of being a couple. Same with Kasumi. But his heart had never sped up quite this fast before…Must be a sign of old age!

Takeshi intervened before Kasumi could mentally bruise Satoshi anymore. "So, who wants to go out for ice cream?"

Hikari perked up. "Ooh, I do! Wanna go, Kasumi? And, uh, Satoshi?" Hikari blushed as she said his name.

Satoshi didn't respond, but Kasumi nodded happily and said, "Yeah, sounds good!"

She let Hikari and Satoshi walk before Takeshi and her, and then whispered to him, "Sorry. I didn't realize Satoshi really had this serious of feelings for the girl. I'll try and keep my insults light."

Takeshi sighed. "It's alright. Satoshi's finally starting to get/understand hormones."

"Wow, at age fifteen. Took him long enough."

"I must admit, it was kinda scary at first."

Kasumi laughed; Takeshi had always had a sense of humor, that is, when he wasn't chasing after girls. Speaking of which… "So, has any girl accepted your request for their love yet?" She laughed afterwards to lighten the blow of the question. She had been hoping Brock would find someone so she could have to stop scaring people with her hammer whenever she came to visit them.

"Sadly, no. But someday, I tell you! Why, do you have someone in mind?"

She answered, "Well, I brought my mallet just in case, so please let me put it to good use!"

Takeshi laughed, and the two caught up with Hikari and Satoshi at the ice cream stand.

Satoshi felt through his pockets; nothing. "Uhh, Takeshi, think you could lend me a five?"

"Ugh, you've been battling like crazy lately; why all of a sudden are you short on cash?"

"Because, I had to rent that stupid outfit for the contest Hikari and I double-battled in; yes, the one we didn't get past the first round in."

Hikari huffed. "Hey, you're the one who wanted to do it with me! Don't make me feel guilty!"

Kasumi chuckled. "Arguing like a true couple."

"What?" Both said at the same time.

"Er, nothing, he-he-he…" Kasumi quickly walked up to the man working the stand. "I'll have one cookie dough ice cream cone."

"That'll be two fifty."

"Alright…" Kasumi pulled a crisp five dollar bill out of her pocket, and then stuck her tongue out at Satoshi. "_Some _of us know how to save our money."

Hikari giggled, and Satoshi glared at Kasumi.

"Sorry, sorry!" It was official, Satoshi had the hots for Hikari. And Kasumi had to admit, it was pretty cute. The man handed her the ice cream and she stood off to the side while the others ordered. Once everyone had their cones Takeshi led them over to a benched table to sit down on. "Er…" Kasumi said, feeling fat. "I won't fit on the bench with three other people on it."

"I can get off—"

"Yeah, lemme move over—"

"I"ll just stand—"

While everyone was offering their polite gestures, and Kasumi was declining, a tall purple-haired boy bumped into her and knocked her down.

Kasumi got up glaring, and chased after the kid before the others could stop her. "Hey you! Stop!"

The boy skidded to a stop and turned around. "What?" he said sharply.

"You owe me an ice cream!" She said nodding her head to the cookie dough ice cream splattered across the pavement of the alleyway.

The boy was about to speak, when he noticed Satoshi running to catch up with her. "You _know _this freak?" he said to Satoshi.

Satoshi's eyes widened. Had he just called—

"Did you just call me a freak? You little—!" Kasumi lunged towards the boy, but he dodged. However, he hadn't noticed the huge mallet on her back, and with one swift movement it was out of her pack and smashing against the boy's arm.

"Agh!" He cried out, surprised by the jolt of pain he felt. Usually he could maintain himself.

"Looks like she was able to put her hammer to good use, alright," Takeshi muttered to himself.

"Shinji, eh?" Kasumi said questioningly.

Shinji was looking away. "Yeah."

They were standing in Kasumi's hotel lobby, Shinji leaning against a wall, Kasumi hands on hips in front of him.

"Huh. Well, you still owe me either a cone, or two fifty's worth of money, your pick."

Shinji threw her a ten.

"Uh, I don't have change."

"Whatever."

Kasumi brought her face in close to his, just looking straight in his eyes, a confused and worried expression on her face. "What's wrong with you? Why don't you care about anything? And don't you _want _to save your money?"

"Er, yeah…" This Kasumi had caught him by surprise. Sure, he'd figured everyone who knew him knew all those things, but none of them had ever _said_ anything about them.

"Then why don't you demand for change? Or say, a bandana or scarf or Pokeblock or—"

"—a date."

"Waah?" Kasumi mumbled, not sure what to say.

"You. Me. A date. Tomorrow night at six. I'll pick you up in the lobby." Shinji began walking out of the hotel.

"But—you didn't even—I'm worth more than seven fifty's worth of change!"

Shinji looked back at her. "Then I'll just have to pay extra."


End file.
